Posted on 09/08/2012 1:46:29 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Janet Sluizer knew she was taking a bit of a chance when she turned to Craigslist this summer to find a tenant for her apartment in the Mission.What she didn't expect was that she'd be spending thousands of dollars in a struggle to evict a roommate who she says hasn't paid rent beyond the first month.
"This is a nightmare,"Sluizer said.
It's a nightmare that landlord advocates say is all too common in SanFrancisco, where 64 percent of residents rent.
.....According to [Janan]New[executive director of the San Francisco Apartment Association], a combination of confusing rent ordinances and an abundance of free legal resources for tenants make it difficult for inexperienced landlords to evict someone on their own.
[SNIP]
"A lot of the situations in other counties would be dealt simply with a 30-day notice and that's the end of it,....In San Francisco,you just can't do that."
According to SuperiorCourt records, seven unlawful detainer suits have been filed against [Louis]Podover in San Francisco. Landlord attorney Drexel Bradshaw has a term for those who game the system by paying only the first month's rent and delaying eviction proceedings: professional tenants.
"They move in, they take advantage and they end up living rent free," he said. "A few days before the prospective subtenant is forced to move out, they'll find another landlord of whom they can take advantage."
[SNIP]
[Sluizer] said she takes full responsibility for not getting anything in writing from Podover as soon as he moved in, something that landlord attorneys said is a recipe for disaster. She said she's offered to pay movers and cover a motel for two weeks for Podover, anything to get her piece of mind back.
"This guy is having a field day on my dime," she said. "I just want him out of my house."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Some people just don’t know how to evict a bad tenant.
Sounds like you would have to be insane to live in San Francisco, something that seems reinforced on FR on a daily basis
SF has a purpose, to attract all the wingnuts to one place, kind of like a Roach Motel for freaks.
My apologies in advance to any freeper who lives there because it's their hometown or they work there.
wall it off
I have experience with bad tenants in one of the very worst places to have a bad tenant, NYC.
Judges there start from the assumption all landlords are ultra rich and can and should pay for everything. NYC landlords have HORROR stories from deadbeat tenants who know this and know how to scam the system. They move from landlord to landlord, victimizing them.
I can tell you one of the reasons landlords become conservative is by having one of these creeps get in, pay no rent, trash the apartment (you can’t cut off utilities) and refuse to move until the day before the sheriff shows up. Months without rent. You will NEVER recover damages, and then to have the judges treat you like YOU are the creep - makes you HATE the government.
Didn’t people used to have to have references from previous landlords? Seems like a good idea.
64% RENT??? OMG!
The obama squatter squad, they have the right to free habitation. How dare you make a profit
The owner looks like she came for the Summer of Love and never got any.
Renting houses thru CraigsList?
This too can be laid at the feet of the libs who don’t believe in private property rights. And naturally it’s in Libland San Francico, but apparently elsewhere in CA as well.
Exactly what I was thinking as soon as I read “San Francisco”. Excellent movie too.
I loved that movie!
Really creepy.
Heck, I would not even visit that place, nor any other part of Californica. If I could get my friends and FReepers out of there, I wouldn’t care if it fell into the ocean.
I have relatives that are landlords, and they try to be as picky as possible (asking for previous rent receipts, references, and such); somne of the stories I’ve read would tempt me to have a fire in the place.
“The obama squatter squad, they have the right to free habitation. How dare you make a profit”
Profits are hard to come by if you own in an area with rent control; tenants demanding repairs that couldn’t be covered by rents, the inability to charge higher rents for upgraded/improved apartments or higher property taxes, etc.
The landlords I know can do most of the maintenance themselves (with the exception of some of the more complcated electrical), and they own building that are in towns without rent control.
Beat me to the Pacific Heights thought! What an idiot on all accounts. Nothing in writing, didn’t collect 1st, last months rent, deposit. Craig’s list...lucky she’s still alive. And I am betting no credit check. I am so grateful I moved to Texas from there many years ago. I am also amazed people freely advertise their stupidity.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.